Waukegan is a city and the county seat of Lake County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2013 census estimate, the city had a population of 88,826. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population. It is the fifth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, after Chicago, Milwaukee, Green Bay, and Kenosha.NameThe site of present-day Waukegan was recorded as Riviere du Vieux Fort and Wakaygagh on a 1778 map by Thomas Hutchins. By the 1820s, the French name had become "Small Fort River" in English, and the settlement was known as "Little Fort". The name "Waukegance" and then "Waukegan" was created by John H. Kinzie and Solomon Juneau, and the new name was adopted in 1849.GeographyWaukegan is located at . Waukegan is on the shore of Lake Michigan, about south of the border with Wisconsin and north of downtown Chicago, at an elevation of about above sea level.According to the 2010 census, the city has a total area of 23.88 square miles , of which is land and is water.
